Consort Chorale, founded in 1994 and directed by Allan Robert Petker, is an audition-only group of select singers from the San Francisco Bay Area who are dedicated to the chorale art form. Consort singers are committed to achieveing choral excellence across a broad spectrum of musical eras and styles. Every summer for the past ten years, the group has gathered for a solid week of rehearsals, culminating in a standing-room-only concert of choral classics from the Baroque age to the modern era. This unique "intensive" format provides an opportunity for singers to fine tune their skills while sharing their love of choral music through the ages.

Allan Robert Petker
Director

As a conductor, Allan frequently serves as a guest clinician or conductor for publishers, choral societies, church festivals, state honor choirs and colleges. In the summer of 1994 he formed the Consort Chorale, an a capella ensemble of 30 select voices from the San Francisco Bay area, which maintains an on-going concert series. He was appointed the director of the Bakersfield Symphony Singers in 1997, the choral arts affiliate of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. He served as director of the community choir in Myrtle Point, Oregon and was on the faculty of South Western Oregon Community College. He currently directs the choir at Marymount College, Rancho Palos Verdes. In 1995 he was the American guest conductor/composer for the Cathedral Choir Tour in England, sharing the podium with such luminaries as Peter Aston, Norman Morris, Andrew Carter and John Rutter. He has been an active church choir director since 1973, led concert tours throughout western America, and is currently the Minister of Music at the San Pedro Presbyterian Church in California. Allan is a past President of the National Association of Church Musicians. (more)

David Hanchette, tenor II, began choral singing as a youngster in church, elementary and high school choirs and has never stopped. The breadth and diversity of his choral memberships demonstrate his expertise and love for the choral art. Beside his participation in Consort Chorale, David has sung with: Syracuse University Chorus and Chapel Choir, San Francisco Bach Choir and Motet Group, the sixteen voice Men of Marin under the leadership of Will Russell, College of Marin Community Chorus and Chamber Chorus, Winifred Baker Chorale and Chamber Chorus, Slavyanka's Millennium Chorus performing in Russia, Festival Singers under the leadership of Stephen McKersie, Marin Golden Gate Barbershop Chorus and Quartets, The Arch Street Irregulars, and The Baytones twelve voice jazz ensemble.